Curiosity Retreats is one aspect of CuriosityStream, LLC, a new venture that aims to enrich ardent lifelong learners with the most inspiring minds of our time. CuriosityStream oversees both Curiosity Retreats and its future online classroom, CuriosityStream.

Curiosity Retreats are the custom retreats beginning in 2014 and hosted at Gateway Canyons Resort & Spa, while our future CuriosityStream encompasses the development of videos and content to be distributed online to the worldwide community of curious minds. Each participant at our 2014 and 2015 Curiosity Retreats will be contributing to the economic model that will enable all lifelong learners to engage online in the great questions and debates of our time.

John Hendricks

Founder & Chairman | CuriosityStream

John Hendricks is the Founder of Discovery Communications, Inc.*, the world’s #1 nonfiction media company. Hendricks created Discovery Channel in 1985 as the first cable network in the United States designed to provide high-quality documentary programming enabling people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity. Discovery Communications has expanded from its core property, Discovery Channel, to current global operations in over 220 countries and territories with more than 1.8 billion cumulative subscribers. Discovery now encompasses 167 networks of distinctive programming representing 26 entertainment brands including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science and Investigation Discovery. Hendricks officially retired from Discovery’s board in May of 2014 to pursue other projects.

Hendricks first visited Gateway, Colorado in 1995, when he began to purchase ranch property, much of which has been protected through conservation easements with The Nature Conservancy. Gateway inspired him to create a world-class destination, Gateway Canyons Resort & Spa, with the goal of introducing others to the beauty of Colorado’s red rock canyon country. Over a decade ago, Hendricks first envisioned the creation of lifelong learning programs with their heart in Gateway. This dream led him to create the CuriosityStream and its Curiosity Retreats, commencing in May 2014.

A visionary in the media industry, Hendricks has been honored with a Primetime Emmy Award and with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences highest honor, the Governors Award, for conceiving the TLC series, Great Books. Hendricks has also been recognized as the first corporate leader to receive the National Education Association’s Friend of Education award for “innovations in education and technology and greatly expanding educational opportunity for America’s schoolchildren.”

Hendricks serves on the Board of Directors of a number of non-profit organizations including United States Olympic Committee, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Institute for Advanced Study, National Forest Foundation, and Discovery Learning Alliance. In 2013, Harper Collins published his business memoir A Curious Discovery: An Entrepreneur’s Story.

Before 1985, Hendricks founded and served as president of the American Association of University Consultants (AAUC), a private consulting organization that specialized in television distribution, marketing and fundraising for educational programs and services. Hendricks holds a B.A. in History (magna cum laude, 1974) and an honorary doctorate (1991) from the University of Alabama, Huntsville.

*CuriosityStream is not directly affiliated with Discovery Communications, Inc. John Hendricks created the CuriosityStream as a personal venture independent of Discovery Communications, Inc., other than content licenses and other contractual agreements.

Elizabeth Hendricks North

President | CuriosityStream

Elizabeth Hendricks North is President of CuriosityStream, and oversees Curiosity Retreats.

Launched in March 2015, CuriosityStream is the first ad-free SVOD (subscription video on demand) service to exclusively deliver quality documentaries and series. The platform focuses these factual features in the areas of science, technology, history and nature as well as showcases Curiosity Retreat lectures. CuriosityStream.com offers a free first month subscription to the service, which is available on iOS and Android mobile applications. The service has been featured in coverage of the digital streaming revolution by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Variety, StreamDaily and Mashable (“CuriosityStream: the new ‘Netflix’ for nonfiction”). Since 2014, Curiosity Retreats has hosted three sold-out events at Gateway Canyons Resort & Spa.

Elizabeth began working for her family’s company, Hendricks Private Holdings, LLC, in November of 2005. Her roles have varied over the years, from consulting in design and marketing for Gateway Canyons Resort & Spa to administering grants from the John and Maureen Hendricks Charitable Foundation. Gateway Canyons Resort & Spa resonated with Conde Nast Traveler readers in 2014, who voted it the #12 resort in the world, #3 resort in the U.S. and #1 resort in Colorado. Elizabeth continues to serve as a Trustee of the Foundation, which has donated over $30 million to numerous non-profit organizations supporting a wide variety of causes, from basic social services to science research. Prior to joining Hendricks Private Holdings, she acquired valuable work experiences at ABC News and the Cato Institute. Elizabeth graduated from Princeton University in 2005 with a B.A. in History.